Fruits and Vegetables to Lower Blood Pressure

The reasons why fruits and vegetables lower blood pressure are many and not always completely understood.

The fact is, vegetarians have strikingly lower blood pressure.

And many studies show that switching to a vegetarian diet typically lowers blood pressure.

In the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) study, 459 people with and without high blood pressure were randomly assigned to one of three diets:

1)
A typical American diet that provided about 3 servings/day of fruits
and vegetables and 1 serving/day of a low-fat dairy product

2) A
fruit and vegetable diet that provided 8 servings/day of fruits and
vegetables and 1 serving/day of a low-fat dairy product, or

3) A
combination diet (now called the DASH diet) that provided 9 servings/day
of fruits and vegetables and 3 servings/day of low-fat dairy products.

After
eight weeks, the blood pressures of those on the fruit and vegetable
diet (8 servings/day) were significantly lower than those on the typical
American diet, while blood pressures of those on the combination (DASH)
diet (9 servings/day of fruits and vegetables) were lower still.

Why are fruits and vegetable so powerful?

Frank M. Sacks, M.D., professor of medicine at Harvard Medical
School, says that there are two obvious possibilities as to why fruits
and vegetables lower blood pressure:

1) Something in plant foods depresses blood pressure or

2) Something in meat forces it up

At
first Dr Sacks thought meat raised blood pressure, but he scrapped that
theory after he tested vegetarians by having them add meat to their
diet.

In one group of vegetarians who ate eight oz./225 grams
of lean beef a day for a month, systolic blood pressure rose very
slightly, diastolic blood pressure not at all.

Neither did a
heavy egg diet for three weeks boost blood pressure. Nor could he get
blood pressure to budge in response to different kinds of fats.

On the other hand, he's convienced that agents in vegetables and fruits have 'mysterious' powers to reduce blood pressure.

One blood-pressure lowering component may be fiber, especially from fruit.

A
recent Harvard study of nearly 31,000 middle-aged and elderly men found
that those who ate very little fruit were 46% more likely to develop
high blood pressure over the next four years than men who ate the
equivalent fiber in five apples a day.

For unknown reasons, fiber in fruit had the strongest anti-hypertensive effect, more so than fiber in vegetables or cereals.

Another possibility is antioxidants in fruits and vegetables that increase amounts of a hormone-like substance, prostacyclin,
which is a special prostaglandin eicosanoid that prevents clotting and
induces the dilation of blood vessels, lowering blood pressure.

Vitamin C in Fruits and Vegetables Lowers Blood Pressure

According
to Dr Christopher J. Bulpitt of Hammersmith Hospital in London, an
expert on hypertension, vitamin C in fruits and vegetables is a powerful
preventive against high blood pressure.

He points to a string of
evidence showing that high blood pressure and stroke fatalities are
highest among people who eat the least vitamin C.

Also researcher
Paul F. Jacques, at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Human Nutrition
Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, agrees that a low intake
of foods rich in vitamin C predicts high blood pressure.

In one
study he found that elderly people who ate the vitamin C in a single
orange a day were twice as likely to have high blood pressure as those
who ate four times that much.

Potassium in Fruits and Vegetables Lowers Blood Pressure

There's no doubt that potassium present in fruits and vegetables lowers blood pressure and taking it away can raise it.

To demonstrate this fact, a test was carried out at the Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia.

Ten
men with normal blood pressure ate a potassium-adequate diet for nine
days, then a potassium-restricted diet, again for nine days.

Deprived
of potassium, the men experienced an average jump in arterial pressure
(including both systolic and diastolic) of 4.1 points and it shot even
higher when the men's diets were loaded with sodium.

They concluded that potassium also helps keep a high-sodium diet in check.

Dr.
G. Gopal Krishna, the study's senior author, thorizes that too little
potassium leads to sodium retention, which over time may trigger high
blood pressure.

If you alreaday are on medications for hypertension, getting enough potassium can lessen the doses of medication you need.

A
study at the University of Naples in Italy, discovered that after a
year on high-potassium diet, 81% of a group of patients needed only half
their original dosages of drugs to control their high blood pressure.

Further,
38% of the high-potassium group was able to stop medication entirely.
They simply ate 3 to 6 servings of high-potassium foods a day, boosting
their average intake of potassium about 60%.

I'll mention next just a few examples of how some foods actually work to lower blood pressure, but they're not the only ones with this amazing healing power. Throughout this website you'll find countless other fruits and vegetables that are just as powerful.

Bitter Greens and High Blood Pressure

Eating spinach and bitter greens (including beetroot greens, chicory, dandelion, endive, fenugreek, horseradish, lettuce and nettle) to lower blood pressure is a very sensible strategy and not just because they're rich in vitamin C or potassium.

One of the reasons these greens lower blood pressure is because they spur production of nitric oxide, a molecule that helps blood vessels to relax, remain smooth, regulating blood flow, inflammation and blood pressure.

Other edible greens such as amaranth, chard, lamb's-quarters, purslane and sorrel can also work.

You
can use them in salads, sauté them with diced onion and garlic or toss
as many as you can find into a soup with other blood pressure-lowering
foods such as celery, broccoli, carrots, garlic, onions, saffron and
tomatoes, just before you're ready to serve it.

They all have different benefits for treating high blood pressure.

For instance, dandelion roots and leaves are highly diuretic,
with high levels of potassium and sometimes used by naturopathic
physicians in place of the common prescription diuretic furosemide.

Meanwhile, fenugreek, which is served as part of Indian dish alu methi, is a fabulous source of choline and beta-carotene, both of which help reduce high blood pressure.

Overall,
fenugreek seeds contain eight different diuretic agents, which not only
help reduce blood pressure but also help control cholesterol and
regulate blood glucose.

In addition to their cardio-protective B vitamins, collard greens
are a very good source of potassium and a good source of magnesium,
two minerals that have both been shown to reduce high blood pressure.

Tomatoes and Blood Pressure

Many people argue over the debates whether tomatoes are to be considered fruits or vegetables. Don't worry, I'm not going to join in.

What matters is that either way, tomatoes are a fabulous source of lycopene, an antioxidant carotenoid compound which gives them their red colour.

Tomatoes
also contain vitamin C, potassium and folate as well as beta carotene
and vitamin E, which help protect cells from oxidative damage.

In
a study of 31 people with hypertension who didn't require medication,
researchers gave them a tomato-like placebo for 4 weeks, followed by 8
weeks of a tomato extract and then another 4 weeks of the placebo.

During
the tomato extract period, their systolic readings dropped by 10 mmHg
and their diastolic readings by 4 mmHg; no changes were seen during the
placebo phases.

Apart from tomatoes, apricots, guava, watermelon, papaya, and pink grapefruit are also significant sources of lycopene.

Fava Beans and Blood Pressure

Fava beans, also known as broad beans, are amongst the richest natural sources of L-dopa, a precursor of the chemical dopamine, which, amongst other things, act as a diuretic.

In
one study, eating 40 grams of freshly chopped fava beans significantly
increased the amount of sodium and dopamine in the urine - a good thing
when it comes to reducing blood pressure.

As we've seen, a number of compounds may contribute to the
cardioprotective effects of fruits and vegetables, including vitamin C,
folate, potassium, fiber, and various phytochemicals.

However,
supplementation of individual micronutrients or phytochemicals has not
had the same effect on lowering blood pressure and protecting from heart
disease.

So in the case of fruits and vegetables, the benefit of
the whole may be greater than the sum of its parts. In other words,
it's much better, and more enjoyable, to eat the real thing, i.e. fruits
and vegetables to lower blood pressure, than relying entirely on supplements.

Click on the NEXT link to read how calcium rich foods can help lower blood pressure or choose an article from the list below.